Rotary converter.



' S. M. BURK. ROTARY CONVERTER. APPLICATIOIIIILED JULY 20, 1912.

' 1,098,557, Patented June 2,1914.

A 3 [If b h d 4 alw X)? 4 9 h 5 k t 5 j; m 7 l p IN VE N TOR mzw'mpu B,'wzww r A TTORNE Y UNITED STATEErXLIENT OFFICE.

SIDNEY M. BURK, 0F PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF ToGEORGE W. HOSFELID, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

ROTARY CONVERTER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 2, 1914.

Application filed July 20, 1312. Serial No. 710,658.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, SIDNEY M. Bonn, a citizen of the United States,residing in Philadelphia, county of Philadelphia, State of Pennsylvania,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Rotary Converters,of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to commutators designed for transforming auni-directional or direct current into an alternating current and fortransforming an alternating current into a uni-directional-or directcurrent. A commutator of this character is very desir able because ofthe fact that it very frequently happens that a uni-directional currentor direct current only is available whereas the work to be done requiresan alternating current or vice versa. Commutators of this character haveheretofore been designed but they have not met with success commerciallyby reason of the complexity of their structure which has rendered themvery expensive to build and'keep in repair.

It is the object of my-invention to provide a commutator capable ofperforming the fiuictions of transforming electric currents as abovestated which shall be simple in construction and which may bemanufactured economically.

My invention comprehends the combination and arrangement of partshereinafter described in the specification, pointed out in the claims,and illustrated in the accompanying drawings to which reference may behad for a clear understanding thereof. It will be understood, however,that changes in the details of construction and arrangement of the partsmay be made within the scope of the claims without departing from myinvention.

In the drawings :-Figure 1 is a sectional view taken transversely of thestructure with the portions thereof, upon opposite sides of the planeupon which said view 1s taken, turned away from each other so that theyrest upon the opposite ends of the structure and certain electricalconnections being:

shown; and Fig. 2 is a view showing the commutator shaft in section andthe commu. tater segments and disks in perspective'and the portions ofthe said shaft and said disks being separated from each other and thesaid view also showing certain electrical connections and contacts.

Referring to the drawings, a designates a shaft and b and c designatedisks of electrical resistance material secured thereon and rotatabletherewith. The said shaft a may be drlven in any suitable manner butshould be driven and caused to rotate synchronously with the generator,when an alternatng current is being rectified or converted into a directand uni-directional current.

Secured upon each of the disks 6 and c are contact members or commutatorseg- 'ments which are situated at equal distances or intervals from eachother. These contacts are designated and indicated upon the respectivedisks by the numerals 1, 2, 3, 4,

5, (3, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12. Although I have shown twelve segmentscarried upon each of the respective disks 6 and c it should beunderstood that the number of these segments may be increased ordiminished within the limits by two or multiples thereof.

The brushes it are in the preferred form electrically connected ingroups of three by metallic members 01, c, f and g, separated from eachother by distances equal to that between alternate segments upon thedisks 7) and c. It should be understood, however, that the number ofbrushes connected by the members (Z, 6, f and 9 may be varied, dependingdirectly upon the number of segments employed. The contacts it should beof less width than the distance between successive segments 1, 2, 3,etc, so as not to short circuit the current. In the drawings thesegments 3, 5 and 7 upon the respective connected with the segments 10,12 and 2 of the disk I) by the conductors k while segments 10, 12 and 2upon the disk 0 are connected to the segments 4, 6 and 8 upon thedisk I)by the conductors 1.

It will be obvious that for the respective groups of conductors 1;, 7cand Z I may substitute single conductors each having branches at itsopposite ends connected to the several segments 3, 5, 7 etc, ashereinbefore named.

The line Wires connected tothe brushes which are associated andcooperate with the segments upon. the respective disks 1 and c I havedesignated by the letters m, n, and p. The wires m and p are connectedto a source of electricity and the current which is transmittedthereover is a direct current which fact I have indicated by the lettersD. C. applied thereto. The wires 92 and 0 are connected to the serviceline and transmit an alternating current which fact I have indicated bythe letters A. C. applied thereto.

Assuming that a direct or unidirectional current is entering thecommutator through the line wire m and that the commutator disks are inthe position indicated in the drawings, it will be seen that the currentfrom the said line will pass from the connection 0, to the segments 3,and 7 and that it then passes along the conductors 2' to the segments 9,11 and 1 upon the disk 0 and thence to the line wire 11. returning tothe opposite disk b of the commutator through the wire 0 which isconnected to the member f, From the latter the current passes to thesegments 1, 11 and 9 on the disk 6 and then along the wires 71 to thesegments 7, 5 and 3 also on the said disk 6. From the said segments lastmentioned the current passes to the brush thence to the line therefore,that the connecting member and wire 39. It is apparent, current, whenthe commutator disks are in the position illustrated, passes directlythrough said disks. If, however, the shaft a with the disks 6 and 0thereon should be rotated a single step in the directionof the arrowsshown thereon in Fig. 1 so that the brush contacts h of the respectiveconnecting members 0?, e, f and 57 would be brought into contact withthe next adjacent segments upon the respective disks, it will be seenthat the current from the line Wire m (assuming that it is entering thecommutator over the said Wll? instead of pausing directly between theiametrieally opposite segments upon the disk passes from the segments 4,6 and 8 thereon over the conductors k to the respective contact members10, 12 and 2 upon the disk Z. The current then passes from the member fto the line wire a and returns over the line wire as to the member ethence to the segments 2, 12 and 10 on the disk 0 from whence it passesover the conductors Z to the segments 8, 6 and t upon the disk 0, thenceto the brush connecting member 9 and line wire 2. It is apparent,therefore, that if the line wire a is supplied with a direct current itwill be converted by its passage through the rotating commutator-s intoan alternating current. The frequency of the said alternating currentWill depend upon the rapidity with which the said commutators arerotated and also upon the distance apart of the segments 1, 2, 3, etc,upon the respective commutator disks 6 and c. It will also be understoodthat when the line Wires m and 39 or n and 0,

as the case may be, are supplied with an alternating current suchcurrent is rectified or converted into a uni-directionalor directcurrent if the reversal of cont-acts between the respective brushes andcommutator segments is in synchronism with said alternating current.

1. The combination of a revoluble shaft, a support of electricresistance material thereon for supporting two series of segments thesaid series of segments each being arranged in groups, electricconducting means for directly connecting certain of the segments of onegroup of each series with certain other segments of the same group, andelectrlc conducting means for connecting the segments of the other roupof one series with the other group of t e other series.

2. The combination of a revoluble shaft, a plurality of disks thereon, aseries of segments on each disk, the said series respectively beingarranged in groups, means for electrically connecting certain of thesegments of one group with certain other segments of the same group oneach disk, and means for electrically connecting the disks of the othergroup upon one segment with the disks of the other group on the othersegment.

3. The combination of a revoluble shaft, a plurality of disks supportedthereon and revolving therewith, each disk having a plurality ofseparate segments thereon, thcsegments on each disk being arranged incertain of the. segments of one group with certain other segments of thesame group upon each disk, means for connecting the group of segments soconnected with a source of electricity and with a service line, meansfor connecting the other group of segments upon one of the, said diskswith a corresponding group upon the other of said disks, means forconnectin the latter group with the service line and with the saidsource of electricity.

4. The combination of a shaft, a plurality of disks thereon and asimilar number of groups of segments upon each disk, the diametricallyopposite segments comprising one group upon each disk being electricallyconnected and the individual segments comprising the second group on onedisk being electrically connected to the diametrically opposite segmentsof the second group upon the other disks, sets of brushes intermittentlyand successively contacting with said segments, and a source ofelectricity connected to one brush on each disk, and one brush Ion eachdisk being connected to a service me. l 5. The combination of arevoluble shaft, a plurality of disks of electric resistance ma terialthereon, groups of segments upon each disk, means for electricallyconnecting the groups, means for electrically connecting segments of onegrou with the segments of another group upon t e same disk, groups ofintermediate segments upon each disk means for electrically. connectingthe said intermediate segments upon one disk with the correspondingsegments u on the other disk, and brushes successive y contacting withthe alternate segments of each disk, a

pair of said brushes being. connected to a source of current and a pairbeing connected 10 Copie: or this gatent may be obtained for an centseach, by mm the cu-mm 0t Washington, 1MB."

